Don't Forget
by Mskayyy
Summary: Unrequited love hurts the most, and try as hard as you might, you can never forget. Bamon, oneshot, Songfic to Don't Forget by Demi Lovato, takes place after Midnight. My entry for Greatest Fanfiction Awards.


**Greatest Fanfiction Awards**

_Author: MsKayyy_

_Word Count: 2862_

_Beta: None_

_Disclaimer: Vampire Diaries and all its Characters belong to L.J. Smith and/or HarperCollins Publishers. I own nothing of this creative work except for the story line. "Don't Forget", its music, lyrics etc are the property of Demi Lovato._

_Summary: Unrequited love hurts the most, and try as hard as you might, you can never forget. __**Bamon**__, __**oneshot**__, __**Songfic**__ to __**Don't Forget**__ by __**Demi Lovato**__, takes place after __**Midnight**__._

He walked out of his room, restless for some reason. He didn't know what it was that made him so jittery, so... unhappy. After all, he had everything he ever wanted, didn't he? He should be happy.

After returning from the Dark Dimension two years ago, he had given everyone quite a scare, popping into the living room of the Boarding House one fine day. But once they were sure they were not hallucinating, they had welcomed him back gratefully. Especially Elena. She had thrown herself into his arms, sobbing like a maniac, managing to say through her sobs, how happy she was that he was alive, that she loved him, and that he was to never leave her again.

Elena had chosen him, and Stefan had accepted it graciously, and withdrawn himself to his newly purchased apartment on the outskirts of town, leaving the boarding house to him and his Princess, and her friends who visited once in a while. His little brother had even wished them happiness. But nothing made him guilty then.

He had his Princess of Darkness.

He supposed he _should_ have felt guilty at cheating his brother. But he couldn't bring himself to be. He had been waiting far too long for this. He was sick and tired of being the second choice; by his father, Katherine, Elena...

But Elena eventually chose him, didn't she?

He had won this time, he was the first choice for once. Why didn't that make him happy?

As he walked down the stairs at human pace, his vampire senses faintly picked up some rock music coming from the living room. Too faint to be picked up by human ears, _headphones_, he mused. The music was accompanied by someone's light and steady breathing.

Elena had gone out, shopping, she had told him. Meredith and Alaric were away at some university, he didn't care to find out more. Matt was at football camp. Stefan never visited unless the house was full. And Mrs. Flowers was upstairs, cleaning out the unused rooms that were once his brother's, a place that neither he, nor Elena stepped into.

That left one person.

He reached out with his powers, and as a familiar aura met his, he realised with a jolt.

His Redbird.

She was here. After so long, she was here.

When Elena had chosen him, Bonnie had been happy for her best friend, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She had congratulated them, but had left immediately after.

Now that he remembered all these facts that his mind had noticed, but deemed too insignificant to pay attention to, the memories avalanched on him. In his victorious celebrations, he had completely disregarded her. But as he came down from his personal cloud nine, he had taken notice of her evident absence. And somewhere in a deep corner of his mind, he had missed her. But his ego, _yes, ego,_ he admitted to himself, was too swollen up to take notice.

But he had noticed eventually, that that mop of red hair had grown absent among the heads that usually adorned the living room.

Her visits depleted, until she never came any more.

He stepped into the living room, and saw that she was asleep. She was leaning on the couch sideways, so that her cheek was pressed against the back of the couch, her legs curled beneath her, her denim shorts doing nothing to hide their length. He took in her sleeping form, alarmed at how frail she'd grown, how feeble she looked. Her clothes hung on her petite frame, and she had a permanent tiredness etched on her childish features that made her seem more mature than her age. And yet, she was little. Oh, so little. A Little Red Bird in every sense, his heart whispered.

She must have fallen asleep with her headphones on, waiting for Elena. Out in front of her, a lot of papers and open books were strewn. Most of it was Science. She must have been forced here for group study by Elena. He knew she wouldn't come if it was up to her. She avoided him nowadays, didn't she?

That thought caused a pang in there somewhere.

The song currently played in her I Pod changed, and a new song came on. A childish, and yet, husky, sad voice started singing to quiet music.

_Did you forget that I was even alive?_

_Did you forget everything we ever had?_

_Did you forget, did you forget about me?_

_Did you regret ever standing by my side?_

_Did you forget what we were feeling inside?_

_Now I'm left to forget about us._

He sat down beside her on the couch, slowly, taking care not to jostle the cushions and wake her. Leaning back sideways, he sat facing her, his face in level with hers.

He wondered if she remembered him. Elena had told him, trying desperately to involve him in the gossip concerning her friends, that his Redbird was currently dating that boy, Mutt. He almost growled, but stopped himself. What right did he have in her life? For all he knew, she didn't give him a second thought these days. She was probably happy with Mutt. Maybe she even regretted being that close to him.

She was keeping herself busy, Elena had told him, with College, Matt and developing her Powers. Elena didn't tell him much about his Redbird, though. It was as though she could detect his keenness at this particular person and was jealous of the special interest he showed that childish girl.

He didn't know why he was expecting her to remember him. It wasn't as though she was obliged to, they never were together officially.

His heart jerked at the thought.

Them together. It was the most ridiculous idea.

It was a bad idea.

_It was a pretty good idea._

Somewhere deep in his mind, he realised, that he had expected that. And he had enough sense to know that she had expected that too, that there was the potential of something quite powerful between them. He had seen it in her eyes every time their gazes connected across a crowded room, and in the fact that it was him, and not anyone else that she called when she was in danger.

At least once upon a time, she had. Did she still hope now?

_But somewhere we went wrong,_

_We were once so strong,_

_Our love is like a song,_

_You can't forget it._

But he had stupidly dashed it all away the day Elena chose him, he realised. In his giddy joy, he had taken Elena and kissed her full on the mouth, right in front of everyone else, including Stefan and her, not caring for a moment about their feelings, not sparing her a second glance. That must have broken her heart, he thought. He hated himself right now for causing her and Stefan that pain. He hated the fact that his ego ruled his senses, that he was selfish enough to cause pain to his own brother and his little Redbird, just for his own happiness.

If Damon had truly prided himself on something, it was his chivalry, something that came along with his fifteenth century Italian aristocratic upbringing. And now what had he done?

He wondered what his teacher would say to that.

He could care less.

He wondered what his mother would say to that.

Guilt soared through him at the thought. She would definitely not be proud.

Some chivalry he displayed.

_So now I guess this is where we have to stand,_

_Did you regret ever holding my hand?_

_Never again, please don't forget,_

_Don't forget._

_We had it all, we were just about to fall,_

_Even more in love than we were before,_

_I won't forget, I won't forget about us._

He just had to accept things as the way they were, didn't he? After all, if his five centuries as a vampire taught him anything, it was that the past cannot be reversed. He had made the mistakes. He had taken the thoughtless actions, and he had to suffer the consequences. But wasn't it a bit unfair that his little brother and his Redbird were also suffering?

But what could he do? He wished and now he had gotten what he wished for. He had to learn to live with that.

He knew that if he had given him and his Redbird, and whatever unresolved feelings they had between them a chance, they would have had something amazing, something unique, something that not even Elena and Stefan had, but him being Damon, cockiness incarnated, had only cared about having one over his brother. And now, all his feelings were being crystal clear to him thanks to some teenage singer that Bonnie listened to, he snorted quietly.

Focusing on her face, he couldn't help but take notice of how beautiful she'd grown. Her curls had loosened up and gained colour, so that now they were burgundy waves. Her features were not so childish any more, her face going from a round to an oval. She wasn't pretty any more; she was beautiful, maybe even more so than Elena. There was a thought.

A stray lock hung over her nose, marring the perfection of her face, and he unconsciously reached in to tuck it behind her ear, bringing himself closer in the process. From this close position, she looked like an angel asleep. He sighed, for the hundredth time wondering how beautiful she was.

Hadn't he adored her? Hadn't she worshipped him? Hadn't he saved her from death more than once, something he would never have done for anyone else?

Had she forgotten all that? He didn't know. But he did know in that moment, that he would never forget that, Elena or no Elena. He simply wouldn't be able to.

_But somewhere we went wrong,_

_We were once so strong,_

_Our love is like a song,_

_You can't forget it._

It was true. The song described them to the word. They had gone wrong somewhere, well, _he_ had, and destroyed everything that could have been. What they once had, could have had if they gave it time and love, was nipped in the bud. There was just no hope for them any more. She had evidently moved on, and so should he.

And yet, he just couldn't seem to forget _them_. Something still held her in his heart. Something still kept her in the place she'd carved for herself.

His faces inches from hers, he couldn't believe how inviting her lips looked. Red and plump, they were begging to be kissed.

He couldn't help himself. He had no control over himself, no willpower to fight. He leaned in, and touched his lips, very gently, to hers.

She didn't wake, but sighed in her sleep.

He groaned, kissing her lips as though taking in air after staying underwater too long. Her unconscious moans encouraged him. Deepening the kiss, he caught her lower lip between his teeth, keeping her under the drugged sleep using his powers. _One last time_, he promised himself, unable to keep away from her. _One last time, and I'll be gone from her life forever._ She kissed him back even in her unconscious state, and he pushed her tongue gently into her mouth.

She tasted unbelievably sweet, and lost to her charm, Damon kissed her, unable to break away, as though she was the very thing sustaining him, anchoring him to the world.

The music blared suddenly.

_Somewhere we went wrong,_

_We were once so strong,_

_Our love is like a song,_

_You can't forget it at all._

She woke suddenly, from the sudden loud music, feeling some powerful presence, some familiar power, comforting, and at the same time, exciting.

An unnatural breeze swept past her, blowing her locks across her face.

She was alone in the room.

Her headphones were still playing music from her I Pod. She must have fallen asleep with the music on.

She blinked. It had been a strange dream that she was having. She had dreamt that _he _was with her, that he had kissed her in a way no one had before. She blushed deeply. It was so _vivid_. She shook her head. Why did she have such a dream? Why now?

Maybe because she was thinking about him before falling asleep.

_You'd promised yourself, Bonnie, _she reminded herself. _No more thinking about him._

She was with Matt now, wasn't she? How would it be fair to anyone, if she still hung over someone who would never be hers?

He was the past, something she could never get hold of. And there was the indisputable fact that he was, after all, with Elena now, his Princess of Darkness. Why would he spare a second glance at her anyway? What was a little Redbird next to the Princess of Darkness?

And it wasn't as though they had _anything _between them, was it? Even the kisses they had shared, they were either kisses of relief and joy at being alive, or ones that Bonnie herself initiated. Her vision grew blurry at the thought of his kisses. Oh, _his kisses! _ They were her most treasured memories of him.

And to know that all that meant nothing to him...

_And at last, all the pictures have been burned,_

_And all the past is just a lesson that we've learned,_

_I won't forget, please don't forget us._

The lines of the song blaring from the headphones caught her attention. She frowned. It reminded her so much of him... She never listened to the song; it just brought back memories of her innocent crush, her unfulfilled love.

She wasn't being fair to Matt. She needed to get over Damon. Not that she hadn't been trying. In fact, the depression that she'd managed to keep hidden away from most had been taking it's toll on her magic and her studies, making her take extra efforts to get both of those up to mark. And just the reminder of the house where it all happened was enough to push her back into depression, so she avoided the Boarding House, always stating some lame excuse to cover up. That way, she could avoid him too.

But now she had to try harder. She should forget him completely.

For Matt, she vowed.

Sitting up straighter, she noticed a strange thing. Her lips were tingling.

_Somewhere we went wrong,_

_Our love is like a song,_

_But you won't sing along,_

_You've forgotten about us._


End file.
